1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an information recording and/or reproducing apparatus (hereinafter an information recording/reproducing apparatus), and more particularly, to an information recording/reproducing apparatus that records desired information from a plurality of kinds of information having identifying information attached thereto, such as digital audio broadcasts.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, digital satellite broadcasting, or DSB, has become available on a pay-per-view basis. In response to consumer demand DSB is provided with a large number of channels such as, for example, movie channels and music channels.
Typically, such channels are scrambled for transmission. Subscribers are provided with a receiver. After selecting the requisite channel and paying a fee, the relevant channel is descrambled for subscriber viewing.
By contrast, the DSB music channels broadcast a large number of songs in a predetermined sequence. As a result, even when able to receive DSB transmissions subscribers are still unable to listen to selections they like when they like. In order to do so, subscribers currently use a recording apparatus, hereinafter referred to as a recorder, to record only those selections they like on a recording medium for later reproduction.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of the conventional art. As shown in the diagram, the DSB transmission is received by an antenna 1. The antenna 1 is connected to a tuner 2 and the DSB transmission received by the antenna 1 is supplied to the tuner.
The tuner 2 selects the required channel from the DSB transmission supplied from the antenna 1. The signal of the channel selected by the tuner 2 is then supplied to a decoder 3. The decoder 3 descrambles the signal of the selected channel and converts the descrambled signal to an audio signal, which the decoder 3 then supplies to an amplifier 5.
The amplifier 5 then amplifies the audio signal supplied from the decoder 3, activates a speaker 6 and reproduces the audio. Additionally, the audio signal descrambled by the decoder 3 is supplied to the recorder 7 and recorded to a recording medium as necessary.
However, a problem arises in that recording only the required information from the DSB transmission requires that the listener monitor the DSB transmission and wait until the desired song is broadcast. Additionally, even when the desired song is broadcast the listener must then perform certain operations with the recorder, which means that operator error can result in the required information not being recorded.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved and useful information recording and/or reproducing apparatus, in which the disadvantages described above are eliminated.
The above-described object of the present invention is achieved by an information recording and/or reproducing apparatus that records desired information from a plurality of kinds of information having identification information attached thereto, the apparatus comprising:
identification information detecting means for detecting the identification information from information supplied thereto;
first recording means for sequentially recording supplied information and for recording a table of contents (TOC) of the supplied information including the identification information detected by the identification information detecting means;
specifying means for specifying desired information from the TOC recorded by the first recording means; and
controlling means for reading the desired information specified by the specifying means from the first recording means.
Additionally, the above-described object of the present invention is also achieved by the information recording and/or reproducing apparatus as described above, further comprising second recording means for recording the information read from the first recording means by the controlling means.
Additionally, the above-described object of the present invention is also achieved by the information recording/reproducing apparatus as described above, wherein the storage capacity of the first recording means is greater than the storage capacity of the second recording means.
Additionally, the above-described object of the present invention is also achieved by the information recording/reproducing apparatus as described above, further comprising information expanding means for expanding information read from the second recording means.
Additionally, the above-described object of the present invention is also achieved by the information recording apparatus as described above, wherein the first recording means includes a digital magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus.
Additionally, the above-described object of the present invention is also achieved by the information recording apparatus as described above, wherein the second recording means includes an optical disk recording/reproducing apparatus.
Additionally, the above-described object of the present invention is also achieved by the information recording/reproducing apparatus as described above, wherein the information is audio data, and the identifying information includes a title of the audio data.
According to the invention described above, it is possible to select only desired information from the information recorded sequentially by the first recording means and to record only the required information in the second recording means.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.